Jane Merrick

Jane Merrick (born 23 November 1973) is a British journalist who is currently the policy editor at the i newspaper. She was previously the political editor of The Independent on Sunday between 2008 and 2015. Merrick has also worked as a political correspondent for The Daily Mail and the Press Association.

Jane Merrick
OccupationJournalist
Employeri (newspaper)

Early life

Merrick was born on 23 November 1973 in Liverpool, England.[1][2] She grew up in the suburb of Aigburth[3] and attended a comprehensive school. Her parents were teachers who support the Labour Party.[4] In interviews, Merrick has discussed how her mother was one of 31,000 council workers threatened with redundancy by Derek Hatton and the Militant in Liverpool.[5] She has two siblings.[6] Merrick then studied at the University of Leeds.[2][7]

Career

At the age of 19, Merrick set up a listings magazine called L:Scene during her gap year in 1993 which was her first job in journalism.[8] She worked as a political correspondent for the Press Association in Westminster between 2001 and 2003.[9] She then worked for The Daily Mail as a political correspondent between 2003 and 2008.[10][11] Merrick left the newspaper to become political editor for The Independent on Sunday,[12][13] a position she held till 2015 when she became a freelance journalist to spend more time with her daughter.[8][14] She co-founded a daily news briefing email service called The Spoon which launched in 2017.[15]

She joined the Labour Party in 2016 to support Angela Eagle's bid to become leader in the 2016 Labour Party leadership election.[16] Merrick left Labour in 2018 due to Jeremy Corbyn's leadership and their handling of antisemitism within the party.[17]

In November 2017, then Secretary of State for Defence Michael Fallon resigned following Merrick's allegation of sexual harassment when she was a 29-year-old journalist for The Daily Mail in 2003. She had accused Fallon of lunging towards her.[18][19] Merrick was highlighted in Time's Person of the Year edition in the same year, which highlighted "The Silence Breakers" who spoke out against sexual harassment.[20]

Merrick was named in The House magazine list of 100 most inspirational women in Westminster in 2022.[21]

Personal life

Merrick is in a relationship with Toby Helm who is the political editor of The Observer. They have a daughter born in 2010.[3][22]

References
  1. @janemerrick23 (24 June 2016). "Born in Liverpool Studied in Leeds Live and work in London Ancestry in Scotland Proud to be part of the 48%" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. Merrick, Jane (17 August 2008). "Jane Merrick: It should have been me wearing Paula's GB vest". The Independent. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  3. Merrick, Jane (11 April 2010). "Born again: Liverpool returns to the polls". The Independent. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  4. "Show 78 – Jane Merrick". The Political Party. 18 October 2018. Event occurs at 16:57. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  5. Merrick, Jane (23 September 2018). "My mum almost lost her job thanks to Derek Hatton". The Sunday Times.(subscription required)
  6. "Show 78 – Jane Merrick". The Political Party. 18 October 2018. Event occurs at 23:40. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  7. @janemerrick23 (20 April 2018). "I went to a comprehensive school in Liverpool and university in Leeds. I knew no one in journalism when I got into it. Very proud of my achievement of becoming a political editor aged 34. I have no tribal loyalty to any ideology. Nobody tells me what to think or write" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  8. Merrick, Jane (7 November 2015). "From an unknown band to Princess Diana – the best stories I never told". The Independent. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  9. "Show 78 – Jane Merrick". The Political Party. 18 October 2018. Event occurs at 07:15. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  10. "Show 78 – Jane Merrick". The Political Party. 18 October 2018. Event occurs at 03:25. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  11. "Show 78 – Jane Merrick". The Political Party. 18 October 2018. Event occurs at 03:00. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  12. Blanko, Bill (27 November 2008). "Controversial result in parliamentary pub quiz". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  13. "Independent plots Saturday revamp". The Guardian. 18 December 2007. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  14. Turvill, William (22 July 2015). "Political editors out at Indy titles, Whitehall editor promoted". Press Gazette. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  15. Ponsford, Dominic. "Senior political journalists launch new daily email called The Spoon". Press Gazette.
  16. Merrick, Jane (21 July 2016). "Why should anyone want to save Labour when it clearly doesn't want to save itself?". The Telegraph.(subscription required)
  17. Merrick, Jane (20 July 2018). "I cannot tolerate antisemitism so I'm leaving Labour". The Times.(subscription required)
  18. Doward, Jamie (4 November 2017). "Revealed: why Michael Fallon was forced to quit as defence secretary". The Observer.
  19. Merrick, Jane (4 November 2017). "I won't keep my silence: Michael Fallon lunged at me after our lunch". The Observer.
  20. "Time magazine person of year Jane Merrick on #MeToo". BBC News. 7 December 2017.
  21. McFadden, Brendan (7 March 2022). "I's policy editor Jane Merrick named as one of the 100 most inspirational women in Westminster". i.
  22. Dickson, Annabelle (6 September 2017). "Westminster's power couples". Politico Europe.
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